Please allow myself...to introduce myself. After a brief introduction, I'll get into the details of our Essex Designed AP Racing Competition Big Brake Kits for the e92 M3. I would like to use this thread as a technical discussion of our brake kits, so feel free to fire away with questions. We just signed up as forum sponsors, and plan to be here for the foreseeable future.

Personal Background
My name is Jeff Ritter, and for the past five years I have been the High Performance Division Mgr. at Essex Parts Services. Prior to that, I was the sales mgr. at StopTech for roughly 5 years. I've been autoXing/tracking cars since 1999, and my stable over the years includes or has included: '98 Integra Type-R, '03 350Z, '03 Z06 Corvette, '92 Miata, '04 CTS-V, '05 Legacy GT Wagon 5MT, etc. I've also been participating in online automotive forums since roughly 1999. You can find my posts under the screen name jritt across a wide range of forums: honda-tech, my350Z, corvetteforum, ft86club, etc. You can read my bio here. Chances are, there is someone on this forum who I've helped with brakes at one point or another.

I've also authored several articles and videos about high performance brake systems. Hopefully you'll find them helpful. Some of these were actually stickied here on this forum back in June, 2010.

Essex Parts Services Background
Essex Parts Services is located in Charlotte, NC and has been in business for roughly 30 years. We are the exclusive importer and distributor for a number of high-end, mainly European brands including: AP Racing competition brake products, CL Brakes pads, Ferodo brake pads, Scorpion Exhausts, Spiegler SS brake lines, etc. You can read more about us here. Historically our focus has been on professional racing. More recently however, we've been working on bringing the technology from our professional racing experience into the aftermarket, and making it available to the average enthusiast. Many of the exclusive products we sell have either been used in professional racing, or contain a number of features that in the past have only been available at the higher echelon of racing.

Competition Big Brake Kit Project Background
Roughly two years ago we began developing a line of brake systems geared towards heavy track users. We call them our Essex Designed AP Racing Competition Big Brake Kits, and we currently have applications for a host of popular racing/track day/AutoX/time trial cars: e36/e46 M3, STI, Evo, BRZ & FR-S, C5/C6/C7 Corvette, Focus ST, S2000, etc. These systems are designed with the sole mission of making you go faster, and use the latest racing technology to improve performance. They focus on ultra-low weight, extremely durable materials, and inexpensive and readily available spare parts (pads and discs). They are built around components by AP Racing, arguably the top performance brake manufacturer in the world.

At the beginning of this project we developed a new lightweight racing competition caliper with AP Racing (under 5 lbs), the CP8350. We use this caliper in our E36 M3 and E46 M3 BBK's. It comes with machined stainless steel pistons, anti-knockback springs, bleed screw and crossover protection, hard anodized finish...the list of features goes on and on. You can see details on our product page. There's an extremely detailed PDF Installation Drawing of the caliper with all of the dimensions....right below the short description at the top of the page.

One of the best features is that it uses an extremely common, inexpensive, 20mm thick pad. The nice thing about this pad is that it is inexpensive. Race pads in this shape are typically in the $175 range per set (which is inexpensive compared to the required shape for many other calipers). The cost difference adds up very quickly over the course of a couple seasons of hardcore track use.

For the E36 and E46 M3 we have been mating these calipers with heavy duty, AP Racing J-Hook racing discs in the 325x32mm size. These discs are derived from the discs we're using in NASCAR Sprint Cup, ALMS, Grand Am, etc. Their metallurgy is incredibly stout, and they take an amazing amount of abuse. They are also inexpensive and relatively lightweight. Although these discs aren't as big in diameter as some of the competitive brake kits on the market, they have proven to be superior in performance on track. They provide all of the benefits that a larger diameter disc would, but because they are so optimized they offer lower rotational mass and a lower moment of inertia. As an example, we've had many C6 Z06 owners go from their OEM 355x32mm discs to our 325x32mm AP Racing discs and see a tremendous improvement in performance and durability.

Another nice thing about a setup like this is that it doesn't kill wheel fitment. We recognize that most serious track junkies use the smallest, lightest wheel possible. We develop our systems with that in mind. A lot of the kits out there now use ridiculously large discs and calipers that carry a huge weight penalty without many performance improvements. Also, solving problems like heat soak in the brake fluid (SS pistons), pad knockback (springs), inexpensive race pads, terrible caliper color changes under high heat (painted and powder coat finishes), and dust boots that turn into a fried mess have never been addressed adequately until our systems arrived on the scene. After seeing the parts we sell to pro race teams, it seems like all of the top quality racing brake hardware has been withheld from the average enthusiast for one reason or another...primarily price. Our Competition Systems have opened that door and solved many of the issues our track customers face.

While it took a while to get off the ground and running, our customers are now enjoying the wide range of benefits our systems provide. Most notably, we've had tremendous success in the FT86, Corvette, and Evo markets. The BMW markets are now starting to gain traction as well, and that's one of the reasons we are now joining this community. With these systems we've had a lengthy list of NASA and SCCA race winners, time attack victories, national rally wins, a 5th place at Pikes Peak on an Evo, lap records, etc. Here are a few threads from the other platform forums that will give you some insight on how our customers feel about this product line and our company:

Now that you've seen where we've come from, I'll tell you where we are going. While our four piston front systems work spectacularly well on the E36 and E46 M3's, we needed to ratchet things up a notch for the extremely potent E92 M3. We dug into the AP parts bin in search of the components required to make the ultimate track brake kit for the American market. Once we found some appropriate core parts, we worked with AP to enhance them, and set them even further apart from existing offerings currently on the market.

Here is a bullet list of some of the primary benefits of our front kit:
•Approximately 9 lbs. of unsprung weight reduction from EACH front corner vs. OEM, or 18 lbs. of unsprung weight reduction from the nose of the car!
•Calipers use a commonly available brake pad shape. These pads are large/thick enough to handle typical lapping/race sessions.
•Ventilated, domed back, stainless steel pistons to help keep heat out of the brake fluid
•Mitigation of pad knockback via 4lb. anti-knockback springs in the calipers
•Anodized caliper finish and machined logo that are more resistant to wear and deterioration
•Stainless steel caliper hardware for a long caliper service life under frequent pad change conditions
•High temperature, low drag seals that will hold up to track temps= less rebuilding and longer service life
•No dust boots to burn up and make a big mess
•Simple pad change with two bolts, and no caliper removal
•Lifetime professional caliper rebuilding support by Essex (at a fee)- pull off your calipers, send them to us, we clean, inspect, and rebuild them
•Available disc burnishing service ensures that your kit arrives ready to be installed and driven hard immediately
•Championship winning, 72 vane, fully floating, AP Racing J Hook endurance racing discs with 12 attachment points to hat
•Anti-knockback/anti-rattle disc attachment hardware
•Replacement iron disc rings available at an extremely competitive replacement price ($359 each).
•Disc metallurgy specifically designed to handle the temps typically seen on track offer a long service life
•Highest quality, Spiegler stainless steel brake line with clear sheath that reduces compliance over OEM rubber design.

Rear

Our rear system is using a four piston caliper that is a sister design to our front six piston, the AP Racing CP5040. As with the front caliper, this is a special version of the caliper designed specifically for Essex and the North American market. It has all of the same great features as the front six piston...same pistons, finish, logo, etc.

The rear disc we're using is a 340x28mm, 60 vane, heavy duty AP Racing J Hook design. As with the front, it's only as large as necessary to get the job done.

Weight savings on the rear vs. stock will be roughly 6.6 lbs. per side, or 13 unsprung lbs. removed from the rear of the car.

Please note that our rear kit will maintain full functionality of the parking brake.

I'll try to head off a few more of the questions people will likely have about this kit with a brief Q & A:

Q: Why aren't the discs bigger?A: Short answer: Because they don't need to be! Long answer: Our systems are built from a racing mentality. In the pro racing world, teams scrap and scream to remove ounces of weight from the cars. Anything that is larger than necessary to get the job done is simply dead weight to drag around. That is how we approach our design. If you want to go faster and a 14" disc will work, a 15" disc will simply add weight, increase the moment of inertia, and hinder wheel fitment. Sure it will look pretty behind 20" wheels, but that's not what this product line is about.

The 14" AP Racing CP5773 Heavy Duty J Hook discs we are using are the exact same discs that won the championship last year on the Action Express Corvette Daytona Prototypes. These discs are being tortured in endurance racing events every weekend at the hands of some of the top drivers in the world. Yes those cars are significantly lighter, but they're also significantly more powerful, and far faster. To give you an idea of the boundaries they're pushing, one recently hit 223 mph in testing! :O If you think you'll give these discs a harder workout in your 20 minute DE session than these guys will when running 24 Hours of Daytona...no offense, but you're probably wrong. Keep in mind that the amount of energy transfer (changing kinetic spinning energy from the disc into heat) in a braking event is most greatly impacted by speed....more so than by weight. I'm going to get a bit technical here, so feel free to skip ahead if you feel your eyes glazing over! The core formula for kinetic energy is:

kinetic energy = vehicle weight x vehicle speed2

Take note of that little superscript at the end. If you look at the equation above, you'll note that doubling the vehicle's weight would double the kinetic energy, but doubling the vehicle speed would increase the kinetic energy by a factor of four! So in plain English, that means a stop from 220mph on a lighter car is going to be tougher on the brakes than a stop from 140mph on a substantially heavier car.

When comparing discs, you can't simply look at the diameter and decide that one will be more effective than another. The number of vanes, air gap, wall thickness, vane shape, metallurgy, hat attachment design, etc. all have to be taken into account.

To give you another example, our small four piston C6 Corvette Kit has found its way onto quite a few C6 Z06's pushing 600hp at the track. That kit features a 325x32mm disc. The OEM front disc on a C6 Z06 is 355x32mm. With a disc that is 30mm smaller in diameter than stock, many of our customers are seeing huge increases in pad and fluid fade resistance, less disc cracking, longer disc life, pads that wear longer, etc. Again, it's not just disc size that matters. It's all about design and optimization.

Wheel fitment is also of critical importance in our design process. As mentioned above, most of our customers run the smallest, lightest wheels available for the platform. I won't go into all of the merits of doing so, but obviously unsprung weight, lower rotational mass, cheaper tires, etc. all factor in. Our systems are packaged tightly to allow for a wide range of wheel fitment. Using an extremely large diameter disc kills wheel fitment, and the utility of a track-optimized brake system.

Okay...I've beaten that one to death.

Q: Are these kits road legal?A: All of the kits Essex sells are designed for off-road use only. If you read the fine print on any aftermarket big brake kit, from any manufacturer, you'll find the same thing...for off-road use only. We don't design our kits to meet any DOT standard, etc., as there is no such standard or requirement in the USA (there is however a DOT compliance spec on brake lines, which all of the Spiegler brake lines in our kits meet).

Q: Do your kits require more maintenance than other big brake kits on the market, due to the lack of dust boots, anodized caliper finish, etc.?A: Short answer: Absolutely not. Long answer: I always get a bit of a chuckle out of this one, because it makes no intuitive sense. Stop and think about that one a moment. If you have a product that is specifically designed to handle the extraordinary high-heat conditions of track use, why would it require more maintenance when used under those conditions vs. brake components that were designed to piddle around on the streets at low speed?

When using your brakes on the track, dust boots are pointless. I've seen many people burn them up in a single session. Once that happens, you're just driving around with some tattered, burnt rubber bits attached to your pistons. We skip making that mess for you to clean up.

Also, many people confuse piston seals with dust boots. All calipers have seals. They're the little rubbery rings inside the piston bores. If a caliper didn't have a seal, your brake fluid would leak out around the pistons! Our calipers use special high-temp seals designed for track use. That means they are less likely to get brittle and wear out when used under high-heat track conditions, therefore increasing the service life of the caliper!

The anodized caliper finish we use also holds up better to track heat than paint or powder coat finishes, which shrink, crack, and change colors. Ever hear the term "Brownbo's" thrown around at the track? The anodized finish will also fare better to a nice splashing of brake fluid, which we all know happens occasionally during bleeds.

To further reduce the maintenance load on our customers, Essex offers a complete rebuild service for the life of the product. You remove your calipers, drain the fluid, and ship them back to us. As AP Racing's only authorized caliper reconditioning center in North America, we rebuild stacks of calipers each year. We will put your calipers through our full reconditioning process. The average cost is roughly $100 per caliper, a very modest price to save you the time and effort, and you'll have the peace of mind that the job was done by a pro.

I've had a few rally customers ask me about foul-weather performance (check out our blog to read about a rally win on our kit last weekend). IMO any aftermarket BBK will require similar maintenance and present the same problems in foul weather conditions. The most vulnerable area for problems is the attachment point between the iron disc and aluminum hat. That's why you don't see a whole lot of OEM two-piece discs using an aluminum hat. Most , like the M3, use a dual-cast iron design with as few moving parts as possible. What happens is, that road salt and other gunk gets wedged between the hat and iron disc ring, and it is essentially impossible to remove short of taking the disc apart. The salt eats away at the aluminum hat, eventually flaking, chipping, etc. We saw this a lot while I was at StopTech, particularly when we were selling a lot of brake kits into the Audi B5 S4, Lancer Evo, and STi markets, etc...where the guys run their kits all year through everything! Again, this is a problem that will be encountered on ANY aftermarket big brake kit. Also, the same sort of things happen with the caliper brackets on just about ANY aftermarket BBK. They're almost all anodized aluminum.

Q: Are spare parts available and reasonably priced?A: Being a company brimming with racers and track junkies, we're very aware of the costs of running a typical event schedule for the year...event fees, gas, hotels, tires, etc. It all adds up quickly. When we put this product line together, availability and long-term running costs were of paramount concern to us. We did a couple of things to address these issues. First we're buying loads of spares and keeping them on the shelf in our warehouse. Buying in bulk also brings the cost down, so we can pass them along at prices that may surprise those of you who are familiar with AP Racing's premium pricing. Our 325x32mm iron disc replacements retail at $249 each, and our 355x32mm discs are $359 each. When you look at the specification of our discs vs. the competition, their racing heritage, and the longevity you'll get from them, they are a bargain. Most of the competitive discs on the market are 48 vanes or less, weigh more, have less optimized vane design, inferior metallurgy, and have never been proven under the same conditions as the AP Racing discs. Many of my race customers have run an entire season or more on a single set of discs.

Pads are another area of concern for us. We know that brake pads are a very personal choice, and that everyone wants to run something different. As such, the calipers we're using in our systems use some of the most commonly available shapes on the market, produced by just about every manufacturer in every flavor under the sun.

We also stock spare pistons, seals, springs, and other hardware components so they're available when needed in a pinch.

Q: When can I buy these kits, and how much will they cost?
A: As mentioned above, we did a test fit yesterday, and we need to make a couple of small tweaks to the design. We'll be bring the test mule back in roughly two weeks from now. We will validate the final design, and the product will go into production. We expect to be shipping kits in early January.

Pricing
The front kit will retail at $3599. Our target price for the rear is $3,099, and it's looking like we should be able to hit that.

I think that's it for now. Feel free to fire away on questions. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and we're looking forward to contributing to this community moving forward.

Welcome to the forum, I owe you an email on the racecar project we're working on we'll be getting APs for.

Glad to have you on board!

Thanks! No worries...I'm scrambling around with a million things to do right now anyway. We should definitely talk at some point this week though.

Quote:

Great product but not blingy enough for most BBK M3 owners.

That's a rather dismal statement about the owners of the 'ultimate driving machine,' but noted, and thanks for the input. Our kit is definitely very focused on performance, and rather anti-bling.

Quote:

Do they produce a replacement rotor for the E92 AP BBK that is not strap drive?

I'm not sure to which kit or rotor you are referring, as there are a number of kits on the market. Please give me the details on the specific kit to which you're referring, and I'll do what I can to help. None of the kits we sell use the strap-drive system. We use the same disc attachment method that we use in pro racing...float in disc, fewer hardware pieces, simple assembly. This setup allows for a good deal of float, and the spring clip helps with knockback and keeps it from rattling and making noise. Below are some pics. It's a proven system that has been raced a million miles and has scored heaps of victories and championships.

great to see function over form. The dynamic performance and weight saving strongly appeals, though I couldn't understand your point re winter roads / salt. I have a few questions that I would like answering pls.

Primarily my car is used on the road with a few track days throughout the year. How will your kit compare to the standard AP Racing system with regards to corrosion resistance and longevity, particularly during the winter months?

Under load, does your kit make more noise that OEM?

Does your kit includes pads and stainless brake lines?

What pad options are there that would suit the way I use my car (as per above)?

You've specifically mentioned the north American market. Will you sell to UK buyers?

great to see function over form. The dynamic performance and weight saving strongly appeals, though I couldn't understand your point re winter roads / salt. I have a few questions that I would like answering pls.

Primarily my car is used on the road with a few track days throughout the year. How will your kit compare to the standard AP Racing system with regards to corrosion resistance and longevity, particularly during the winter months?

Thank you. As with just about every aftermarket BBK on the market, we are selling our kit for off-road use only. I'm not sure which specific AP Racing kit to which you are referring, but as mentioned above, just about any aftermarket BBK will share the same issues with regards to winter corrosion resistance...primarily road salt. The disc hats are susceptible to having salt wedged between them and the hat. That's the biggest area of concern. Salt can also cause problems with the brackets. Painted calipers would have a bit more resistance to foul weather than anodized ones. Dust boots would be a nice thing to have if you never tracked your car and there was no chance of burning them up or damaging them. Once they are fried and torn, they're useless however.

Quote:

Under load, does your kit make more noise that OEM?

If you look at the hardware pictures above, the anti-knockback spring clip eliminates pretty much all of the rattling noises associated with a two-piece disc, while still allowing it the iron disc to expand nicely when heated to track temps.

Sometimes there is a slight bit of knock with brake pads in aftermarket calipers. Typically that happens when you reverse the car, then go forward. The pads shift forward slightly when moving backwards, then shift towards the rear of the car when you move forward. That produces a clunk or knocking sound when the pads bump up against the abutment plates. Part of that issue is that every pad manufacturer makes pads that are slightly different in size. They typically range a couple of mm in size, even though they are considered the same 'shape.' Some pad manufacturers allow for more expansion under heat, so they start out with a slightly smaller pad cold. Others worry about interference on different calipers from the various manufacturers. Some just don't have as tight of tolerances in production. Therefore, different pads from different manufacturers will fit differently in the calipers. Some will be more snug than others and will make less noise. Finally, any race pad is going to make more squealing and scraping noises than an OEM pad due to the nature of the material...that's regardless of what calipers they are in however, factory or aftermarket.

Specifically under load, the J Hook discs tend to make a slight whirring noise, just like a drilled disc would. That's related to one of their functions...more leading edges for the pad to bite into, without the stress risers created by the drill holes. You get the benefits of a drilled disc, without the downsides, but they are slightly louder than a straight or curved groove on the face of a disc.

Quote:

Does your kit includes pads and stainless brake lines?

Pads are a very personal choice, so we don't include them. Some other 'track' kits on the market include a cheap set of street pads. We took that cost out of our kit, and didn't want to sell a 'junk' set of pads with such a high-end kit. Therefore we just offer our customers 50% on a set of pads of their choice at the time they purchase the kit.

Our kits include a beautiful set of Spiegler SS brake lines. You can read about them on our website. They use the finest components, with stainless steel fittings made in Switzerland. The owner of Spiegler is a meticulous German engineer, and is very picky about what he puts into his product! I like to call them the Swiss watch of brake lines.

We also sell the Spiegler SS Brake Lines separately for the OEM E92 M3 caliper fitment.

What pad options are there that would suit the way I use my car (as per above)?

Just about every pad manufacturer makes pads in the shape we're using, in all of their compounds. That's one of the reasons we chose the caliper. Our customers will never have trouble finding a pad. You can see the list of pads we offer here. Again, please keep in mind that our list is not an exhaustive list, and that there are many other pad compounds available in this shape from other manufacturers.

Quote:

You've specifically mentioned the north American market. Will you sell to UK buyers?

Due to our contractual agreements with AP Racing, we can only ship to North American retail and wholesale customer addresses.

I think I covered all of your questions. Please let me know if you have any others. Thanks.

well ESSex i can really really see the thought thats gone into this, imo the AP racing units are as good as they get, mclaren uses pretty much identical caliper on the mp4, the rotor tech is again awesome, as a uk owner thats actually been the the AP factory, had a tour and spoken to the techs, im so pleased these are on my car...... reguarly see my rotors glowing on the track and they have never let me down ONCE..... I do agree on the pad knock noise going from reverse the forward, its only minor and this is the only instance i hear knocks from the system.... the rotors are kinda noisey tho.... againnot something that bothers me and i love the mechanical whir noise!! lol!!

incredible breaking system and very very well done for really putting in the research, really nice to see a proper non bling track item, but come on.... they still look awesome!! owners can simply paint the calliper if they want and have the best of both..

whats your recommendation for a good track pad that doesnt rot wheels and scar the paint with its material once turned to dust???

well ESSex i can really really see the thought thats gone into this, imo the AP racing units are as good as they get, mclaren uses pretty much identical caliper on the mp4, the rotor tech is again awesome, as a uk owner thats actually been the the AP factory, had a tour and spoken to the techs, im so pleased these are on my car...... reguarly see my rotors glowing on the track and they have never let me down ONCE..... I do agree on the pad knock noise going from reverse the forward, its only minor and this is the only instance i hear knocks from the system.... the rotors are kinda noisey tho.... againnot something that bothers me and i love the mechanical whir noise!! lol!!

incredible breaking system and very very well done for really putting in the research, really nice to see a proper non bling track item, but come on.... they still look awesome!! owners can simply paint the calliper if they want and have the best of both..

whats your recommendation for a good track pad that doesnt rot wheels and scar the paint with its material once turned to dust???

Thank you very much. We've definitely put a good bit of time into figuring out the proper product for the platform.

Agreed on how these kits look on cars. They aren't totally flash, but they look fairly awsome IMO. They certainly look way cooler than the OEM bits! Here they are on a Corvette C6 Z06:
Different wheels:

Here are the rears:

As for track pads, I like the Ferodo DS1.11. They are a great endurance compound with good bite, linear torque curve, good wear rates, and they don't eat your discs. We will have these available in the proper shapes for our front and rear kits...from our website:

The DS1.11 is one of Ferodo's latest race pad offerings. It has slightly less bite at high temps. vs the DS3000, but doesn't decompose nearly as quickly under extended heavy use on the track. The DS1.11 is known for its extremely flat torque curve, which means that as temperatures go up, the response through the brake pedal remains consistent. If you want a pad that you can thrash all day without having it burn up or fade, the DS1.11 is a great choice

That's a shame and ironic. I live in Essex in the UK! Any connection with your company name?

Our business was initially named after Essex CT here in the states, but that city was certainly named after the original Essex! Our current majority owner is actually British, as is the director of our motorcycle operation, TAW Performance. Our company imported British sports racers for years as well (Tiga and Van Diemen). We are currently AP Racing's biggest customer in the world, and we're also the exclusive North American importer and distributor for Scorpion Exhausts out of the UK. We definitely have long-running and deep ties to British motorsports. You can read our history here.

Quote:

Do you think I'll be able to get the same parts by speaking to AP Racing UK?

The calipers we're using in our kits have a number of unique modifications made specifically for Essex, and the discs are a unique part number as well. AP offers kits with similar specification, but not quite the same. Thanks.

REALLY like the curve on those new ferrodo..... wonder if they have a proper pad shape for me too?? Are they friendly to paint on wheel and car?? some of the pad materials use really nasty stuff..... would love to give this a try...

think i have the cp5575 family caliper?? and the related rear 4 pot caliper.

REALLY like the curve on those new ferrodo..... wonder if they have a proper pad shape for me too?? Are they friendly to paint on wheel and car?? some of the pad materials use really nasty stuff..... would love to give this a try...

think i have the cp5575 family caliper?? and the related rear 4 pot caliper.

Awesome info on the company btw... very cool as a fellow Brit....

Brakes and car look great!

If you do have a CP5575 caliper, the pad for your AP caliper is exactly the same as the pad in our calipers, except they are 1mm thinner in your caliper.
You can see it on our website here. We have three sets in your size in stock currently (FRP3077), and they retail at $437.93 per set.

Nice looking kit. I'm a newcomer to HDPEs, and I have been shopping for a kit for quite some time. Yours hits the nail on the head for me.

So I see that these kits are not street legal or whatever, but it seems that all kits (Stoptech, Brembo, etc) are in the same boat. Is that true?

To my knowledge any aftermarket BBK on the market is being sold as 'for off-road use only." There isn't any sanctioning body or entity that dictates the legality or applicability of a BBK in the USA (unlike TUV in Germany, etc.).

Quote:

Also why not just offer a kit with 2 sets of pads? I know you say pads are a personal choice, but someone like me with no frame of reference needs a starting point. I think that could be helpful.

Because then we'd be forcing people to accept two sets of pads they may not want, rather than just one set. We're here and available to answer customer questions, just like I'm doing on this thread. We are also available via phone 5 days a week from 8-5pm. Our team has a lot of experience, and we can make a tailored recommendation based on your specific needs and usage environment. That's part of the value to buying one of our kits. If you ask, we'll make sure we put something in your hands that we think we will be best for you.

Quote:

Do these calipers and rotors mount without modification to the car? Or do we need to snip the backplate like other kits?

On the front there will be no required modifications, but we typically recommend the removal of dust shields for improved airflow. On the rear, you'll need to do some trimming of the dust shield to get the parts on the car. The procedure is very simple.

Quote:

Do you have or plan to have a good tutorial on how to install them?

We don't have our M3 install manual complete, but we will when the kit goes on sale officially. We pride ourselves on our extensive, in-depth instructions. We've all done installs like this with poor instructions, and we absolutely do everything we can to avoid putting our customers through that type of thing! Our instructions include lots of pics and info specific to the application. We don't use generic instructions from other platforms, nor do we throw in a one-pager in a foreign language...we hate that! You can see an example here of our detailed six piston front kit installation instructions for the corvette.

Quote:

Do these also work for the E90 M3 sedan? I think the brakes are exactly the same, but I'm not sure.

Thanks for the response. I will be looking to purchase early '14. I need to get rid of two wheels sets from old cars prior to spending more money ;-)

I think my wife is tired of the wheels stacks in the garage.

One more stupid question: If I get these and track pads I should be able to go balls out at HDPEs without fear of cooking the brakes I assume? (20 min sessions) Of course I would swap to high temp fluid as well.

I have been holding back on braking because I don't fully trust the stock brakes at very high speeds.